Greece x Reader: Truth Be Told
by threepinkdoors
Summary: You're a top student at your private school. In contrast, Heracles is a lazy person. After not showing up in school for a while, your teacher convinces you to pay him a visit and drop off his homework while you were at it.


Let's provide some background to this story. You are a student at private school with their private school uniforms and private school rules. And the rules say that you have to have superior grades in everything you do. Well, that's exactly what you did. You are at the top of your class. Everyone chides you for being so smart when all you really do is study; being smart means nothing if you do not study, after all.

In your classroom there are ten students. It seems like a little, but since this is a private-and-super-expensive school, they have the money to have twice as many teachers as any other school. Plus, a smaller class lets the teacher help each student out individually. Everyone in your class is pretty much on the same level: do your work and good things will come of it.

Well, everyone except one (yup, there's always got to be that one idiot...).

His name was Heracles Karpusi, and he occupied the seat right next to yours. His entire family was originally from Greece. And it was understandable if he got a lower grade because he had trouble understanding English. But he doesn't even _try_. Every day he comes into class, he doesn't have his backpack. He doesn't even have a notebook to take notes. And all through the period he lays his head on the desk and goes to sleep. He interrupted the class once when everyone heard a little 'meow' coming from somewhere. He had a kitten in his coat.

So you officially labeled him as a lazy, rule-breaking bum. Definitely not the kind of guy you would want to befriend, much less date.

You hummed happily as you entered the class. The bum hadn't been in class for a week. It was complete bliss being around just hardworking people. You started to feel his laziness rub off on you, anyway. Everything was going as planned: the teacher continued with the lesson without stopping the class to wake up Heracles. You sat in your seat and doodled in your notebook once the lesson was over and you finished your classwork.

"_," the teacher called.

You closed your notes and walked up to his desk. "Yes sir?"

"Do you know what happened to Heracles? He hasn't been to school for a week."

What were you, this kid's mother? "No. Unfortunately, I don't really mingle with Heracles." There was a small twinge of relief in your voice.

"Hmm..." your teacher thought. "Could you do me a favor? Heracles needs to turn in work or he will fail. He lives fairly close to you, so if you could hand him this past week's work that would be superb."

What. Was he kidding?

He handed you a stack of papers and a map.

Nope.

*~*

He was right when he said Heracles lived close to you. You knew where you were going; you walked this path on your way home. You dug your face in the map, wondering where to go next. "It should be right here..." you said as you stopped and looked up. A quaint little cream-colored house with a blue trim stood in front of you. And right next door was your own house.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" you exclaimed. He had lived next door to you all year and you didn't even realize it. You sighed. "Let's just get this over with..." You walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

"Meow..."

You looked down and saw a white and orange calico with cool emerald eyes and a pair of thick black "eyebrows" above them. You smiled. "Here kitty, kitty!"

The cat stared at you and strutted next to you, his nose high in the air. He rubbed his body against your leg and you crouched down to pet him. He seemed hesitant but he finally edged his head into your palm.

You giggled and stood back up. No one had answered the door. You tried the knob; it was unlocked. I'm not sure if I should go in or not, you pondered. "Oh, whatever." You walked right in.

You were instantly hit by a warm buttery smell. Someone was baking bread. "Hello?" you called out. No answer. You kept walking through the house, inspecting every room like a creepy stalker. You clicked your tongue. "I guess I could try the backyard..." You placed the homework on the counter in the kitchen and headed outside.

Cats. There were cats everywhere. There were white ones, brown ones, grey ones, and even a beautiful purple Persian. A large blue Siberian waddled over to you and pawed at you, demanding attention. A white one with a fuzzy brown collar and tail jumped up like a hyperactive dog, definitely getting your attention. You held your arms out and he jumped right in, instantly rubbing his cheeks all over your chest.

On the other side of the yard dirt was being excavated. You moved to the large pit and saw a young man shoveling dirt out of the pit. You instantly recognized his long brown hair and the silly little hair curl he had on top of his head. "Heracles," you called to get his attention.

He slowly turned to face you. "Oh, _." He smiled. "How nice to see you today." His voice was soft and you almost missed his greeting. "I see you found Alfred."

You blushed and put down the cat you were holding. "W-well, he kinda found me," you laughed nervously. "What are you doing?"

Heracles looked back down at the pit. "I'm digging up some of my mother's old things."

"I'm sure that's not what 'digging' means in these terms..." you said under your breath.

"My mother buried a lot of things in the backyard," he continued, obviously not catching your mumble. "I want to find them and see what she left for me."

His head suddenly perked up. "Oh, the pita's are done." He slowly put the shovel down and patted his hands together to dust himself off. He jumped up and landed neatly on his feet in front of you, out of the deep trench he dug up. "Would you like some?"

You had no idea he could move his lethargic butt that smoothly. "S-sure..."

You followed him inside and he washed his hands and took the pitas from the oven. They were like small triangles of flaky dough. Not at all the type of pitas you were expecting. Heracles placed two of them neatly on a plate and handed them to you, placing the rest on a larger plate. "Be careful," he warned. "They're really hot."

You took one gingerly and nibbled on it. The bread gave a small crunch in complaint and you suddenly felt something gooey inside. It tasted like spinach dip. You pulled it back and inspected it. It was filled with spinach and some form of cheese. It was incredibly delicious.

Heracles saw the happiness in your face. He smiled, "They're filled with spinach and feta cheese. I'm glad you like them." He took one and munched on it, seeing the stack of papers on the counter. "What's this?"

"Oh!" you exclaimed, swallowing the pita in your mouth. "The teacher told me to give that to you because you've been missing a lot of school."

He stared at it for a minute. He took out a pen and started filling in the work with ease, hardly paying attention to the questions. By his third pita, he was finished with a week's worth of work. "There you go."

You were dumbfounded. You took the paper and checked every answer. "They're all... right?" Heracles shrugged and took another pita. "Hey, if you're this smart, why don't you ever do any work in class?"

Heracles looked at the homework, as if that alone could inspire an answer. "I'm actually a personification of the country of Greece. So I've actually lived through everything they teach in history class."

You twitched and burst out laughing. "Come on, at least give me a believable answer!"

Heracles smirked. "Alright. Why don't you come up with an answer to your question?"

You pondered over another pita. "While you 'sleep,' you're actually typing notes furiously away at an iPear or a tablet! And you learn best by typing or writing down your thoughts!" Yeah; it seemed more plausible that he had a hidden phone or computer under his desk and he was using it to take notes. Really? Personified countries? What was he, four?

*~*

Of course, you didn't believe him at first. Really, who in their right mind would? Countries are large pieces of land ruled over by governments. They were like kingdoms. So when you heard that Greece's economy was going down the toilet, you figured that would be that.

Until you heard that Heracles was critically ill.

You burst through the bedroom door and saw Heracles in his bed, paler than the white walls that surrounded him. But what surprised you was the amount of people that crowded his bed. "_," Heracles coughed.

Tears filled your eyes. He was fine just the day before! How could he possibly be sick? "H-how are you feeling?"

He smiled gently. But his ashen face reflected pain. "I'll be fine after a few years."

"Y-years?!" you exclaimed. You looked around. You saw people from all sorts of backgrounds and heritages.

_Oh._

"A-are you really... G-Greece...?" you stammered. He smiled and nodded. You couldn't hold back the urge to wrap your arms around him. "You've got to get better, alright?"

You felt a soft warm hand stroke your hair. "Entáxei."


End file.
